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Testing the Impact of Phone Texting Reminders for Children's Immunization Appointments in Rural Cameroon: Protocol
Yayah Emerencia Ngah1, Ghazal Raoufi2, Maral Amirkhani2
1Azire Integrated Health Center, Bamenda Health District, Ministry of Health, Bamenda, Cameroon.
Insights
Automated SMS reminders can improve childhood vaccination rates in low-income countries. This study will assess SMS reminders to increase immunization coverage and reduce vaccine-preventable diseases.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Global Health
- Health Informatics
Background:
- Millions of children remain unvaccinated globally, increasing their risk of vaccine-preventable diseases and death.
- The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated vaccination gaps, particularly for children with HIV or in vulnerable settings.
- Mobile phone-based reminders have shown promise in improving vaccination adherence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of automated SMS reminders in enhancing child vaccination rates.
- To assess the impact of SMS reminders in a challenging semiurban/semirural, low-income country setting.
- To provide evidence for scalable interventions to improve childhood immunization coverage.
Main Methods:
- A nonrandomized controlled trial will be conducted in Bamenda, Cameroon.
- 200 parents per group will be recruited; the intervention group receives SMS reminders before and after scheduled vaccinations.
- Data collection includes baseline information, clinical visit data, and vaccination records for both groups.
Main Results:
- The study will compare vaccination rates and follow-up visit adherence between the SMS reminder group and the control group.
- Statistical analyses include descriptive statistics, Fisher exact test, and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.
- Results will quantify the impact of SMS reminders on timely vaccinations and clinic follow-ups.
Conclusions:
- This study addresses the critical need for effective child vaccination interventions in unstable environments.
- Findings will inform the development of cost-effective, technology-driven strategies to improve public health.
- The research aims to contribute a holistic approach to boosting child immunization and reducing mortality.
Background:
Globally, over 20 million children are unvaccinated and over 25 million missed their follow-up doses during the COVID-19 pandemic; thus, they face vaccine-preventable diseases and unnecessary deaths. This is especially the case for those with HIV or living in vulnerable settings. Using cell phones to send reminders to parents has been shown to improve vaccination rates.
Objective:
We aim to determine whether implementation of an automated SMS reminder will improve child vaccination rates in a turbulent, semiurban/semirural setting in a low-income country.
Methods:
This will be a nonrandomized controlled trial that will be conducted at Azire Integrated Health Centre, Bamenda, Cameroon.
Results:
A total of 200 parents per study group (aged over 18 years) who are registered at the clinic at least one month prior to the study will be recruited. The intervention group will receive 2 reminders: 1 week and 2 days prior to the scheduled vaccination. For those who miss their appointments, a reminder will be sent 1 week after their missed appointment. The control group will receive the regular care provided at the clinic. Baseline information, clinical visit data, and vaccination records will be collected for both groups. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize baseline characteristics between and within clusters and groups. The Fisher exact test will be used to compare parent-child units who return for follow-up visits (as a percentage) and children vaccinated as scheduled (as a percentage) between the study groups. Finally, we will compare how many members of both study groups return for 1 follow-up visit using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.
Conclusions:
Due to limited effective child vaccination interventions in unstable settings, this study will be of high importance for suggesting a holistic approach to improve child vaccination and public health.
International Registered Report Identifier (Irrid):
DERR1-10.2196/47018.
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